Zuckerberg-Backed Group Plans Ads Against Iowa Rep. Steve King

A Mark Zuckerberg-supported pro-immigration group plans to launch an ad campaign against Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa for saying that immigrants who join the military shouldn't earn permanent residency.

King reacted to a measure proposed by Republican Rep. Jeff Denham of California called the ENLIST Act, which would allow illegal immigrants brought into the United States as children to serve in the military as a means to earn citizenship.

In response, King told Breitbart that if an illegal immigrant shows up to join the military, "we're going to take your deposition and we have a bus for you to Tijuana."

Those comments are used in the TV and Internet ads that FWD.us is launching against the Republican lawmaker in Iowa, Time magazine reported.

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"Instead of supporting our military, Steve King, a Republican member of Congress, insults the brave soldiers who are immigrants and those who would proudly serve," one FWD.us ad says. "Steve King's attack on American soldiers and the military is wrong."

A second ad the group has released features a teenager who says he was brought to the United States when he was seven months old, was an active member of the ROTC in Chicago in high school, and wants to fulfill his dream of becoming a Marine.

"Rep. Steve King and his anti-immigrant allies want to deport over 11 million people, and by claiming 'I think [Congress] blows up' if a military DREAMer provision is even considered, he demonstrates that they're willing to use threats over congressional procedure to block every conceivable path to even the least controversial aspects of immigration reform," Todd Schulte, executive director of FWD.us, told Time.

"He says those who stand up and volunteer to serve should be put on a bus and deported to Tijuana," Schulte added. "King's comments are an insult to immigrants as well as to the commitment and sacrifices that U.S. service members and veterans make every day."